"The superior man is catholic and no partizan. The mean man is a partizan and not catholic." (君子周而不比、小人比而不周。) ─ Confucius, The Analects, 2.XIV, translation by James Legge.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The People vs. Dominique Strauss-Kahn

"Some of the French are angry about Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s 'perp walk,'" reports The American Conservatives's Dennis Dale, and rightly so so, says he, arguing, "The practice degrades the accused (even prisoners of war are protected from this) and unfairly incriminates him in the eyes of the public–poisoning the well of his peers from which his jury is drawn" — Demagogy, American Style.

"Since DSK has the luck to face a New York jury, and not the judges at the International Criminal Court, commentators are all stressing that he is, of course, innocent until proven guilty," reminds CounterPunch's Diane Johnstone, providing other "reminder[s] that the potential Socialist candidate is anything but a man of the people" — Weep Not for Strauss-Kahn.

Tyler Durden of zero hedge, quoted by Alternative Right's Richard Spencer, broke the news "[t]o all those who thought, himself probably included, that DSK would get away scott free from his most recent rape incident (as opposed to the metaphorical rape that the IMF has exercised over the decades over insolvent creditor nations)" — No Immunity for the Champagne Socialist.

"As this story develops, it's all about Strauss-Kahn, instead of the woman (so far unidentified), who accuses him of brutally attacking her," notes the Institute for Policy Studies' Tiffany Williams, whose "work focuses on the trafficking and exploitation of immigrant domestic workers" — What about the Woman Strauss-Kahn Allegedly Raped? "Why? Perhaps because it's supposed to be a fact of life that poor women’s bodies are collateral damage of war, prizes for global accomplishment, or simply a means to an end."